Brits - A medical doctor accused of defrauding a medical scheme and the labour department's Compensation Fund will appear in court on Friday, an official said.
Dr Ganesh Anil Anirudhra would face 319 charges in the Brits Magistrate's Court, labour department spokesman Page Boikanyo said on Thursday.
Anirudhra was accused of submitting illegitimate claims to Bonitas medical scheme and the Compensation Fund between 2008 and 2012 for injured people he did not treat.
“He was arrested at the George Mukhari Hospital in Ga-Rankuwa, near Pretoria, in December 2012. He was previously convicted in 1989 and 1991 for fraud,” said Boikanyo.
Anirudhra was out on bail of R20 000, he said.
The fund provides compensation for workers who fall ill or are injured while doing their jobs.
On Tuesday, the Pretoria Magistrate's Court postponed a fraud case against six former employees of the fund until May 22, when the trial will start.
Boikanyo said at the time that the court had also transferred the case to another court as another accused had pleaded guilty and was being tried separately.
Physiotherapist Abel Diokana had been convicted of helping his co-accused to scam the fund out of R949,175. He would be sentenced on June 28.
Maxwell Ramaphosa, Samuel Mfeleng, Kgabo Methi, Debbie Venter, Tendani Mukomafhedzi, and Billy Ramskin faced four counts of fraud and two counts of money-laundering.
They were out on a warning and had yet to plead, Boikanyo said.
They allegedly recruited Diokana to submit fraudulent claims, which they processed, making out payments, which they allegedly shared. - Sapa